Classics in the History of Psychology -- Harlow (1958)
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we know little about the fundamental variables underlying the
formation of affectional responses and little about the mechanisms through
which the love of the infant for the mother develops into the multifaceted
response patterns characterizing love or affection in the adult.
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John Bowlby, who attributes importance not only to food and thirst
satisfaction, but also to "primary object-clinging," a need for
intimate physical contact, which is initially associated with the mother.
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During the course of these
studies we noticed that the laboratory raised babies showed strong attachment
to the cloth pads (folded gauze diapers) which were used to cover the
hardware-cloth floors of their cages.
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baby monkey raised on a bare wire-mesh cage floor
survives with difficulty, if at all, during the first five days of life
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contact comfort
might be a very important variable in the development of the infant's affection
for the mother.
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we built a surrogate mother
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These data make it obvious that contact comfort is a variable of overwhelming
importance in the development of affectional response, whereas lactation is a
variable of negligible importance.
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One function of the real
mother, human or subhuman, and presumably of a mother surrogate, is to provide
a haven of safety for the infant in times of fear and danger.
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It is apparent that the cloth mother is highly preferred over the wire one,
and this differential selectivity is enhanced by age and experience.
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the mother or
mother surrogate provides its young with a source of security, and this role or
function is seen with special clarity when mother and child are in a strange
situation
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